Anyone jobless for a long time before?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

What do all these unfortunate 40s end up with? Taxi drivers? Property agents? what else?

My brother in law has this fear of being retrenched in the 40s because he worked as an engineer in a semi-con MNCs. From his observation, many engineers in his company reached EOC in their 40s, got retrenched and thereafter is forever hard to find a job again. He is in his 30s, the year before, he resigned, trying to switch line but failed. The company offered to get him back with a pay rise and happily accepted.

Other than IT line, semi-con, what are the most vulnerable industries for the 40s PMET?

I think there is no more iron rice bowl jobs in the world any more. Not even in the civil service. What people should do is to start saving and investing early in their careers. Put off unnecessary expenses, and channel the savings into investment. People become very vulnerable from their 40s onwards - their salary become uncomfortably high (high cost to their employers), they have parents to support, they still have school going children to bring up, housing loans to pay. And car loans too. It is no wonder this group of people feels insecure. Many are trapped in their high stress or non fulfilling jobs, because at their age the alternatives are really dire. Often they have to settle for much reduced pay, that is, if they are lucky to get another job. Or they become financial advisors or property agents. I understand these professions are like businesses where many times your expenses exceed your income.

On the other hand, if they had constantly put aside some savings and invest those throughout the years they could be reaping some fruits in their 40s. I am saying this because I see my uncles discussing their passive incomes from their investments be they property or shares or unit trusts. One was even saying that he was near to achieving his goal of getting his passive income to parity with his salary. This meant he could already retire and just rely on the passive income. He is certainly less stressed about losing his job.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I think there is no more iron rice bowl jobs in the world any more. Not even in the civil service. What people should do is to start saving and investing early in their careers. Put off unnecessary expenses, and channel the savings into investment. People become very vulnerable from their 40s onwards - their salary become uncomfortably high (high cost to their employers), they have parents to support, they still have school going children to bring up, housing loans to pay. And car loans too. It is no wonder this group of people feels insecure. Many are trapped in their high stress or non fulfilling jobs, because at their age the alternatives are really dire. Often they have to settle for much reduced pay, that is, if they are lucky to get another job. Or they become financial advisors or property agents. I understand these professions are like businesses where many times your expenses exceed your income.

On the other hand, if they had constantly put aside some savings and invest those throughout the years they could be reaping some fruits in their 40s. I am saying this because I see my uncles discussing their passive incomes from their investments be they property or shares or unit trusts. One was even saying that he was near to achieving his goal of getting his passive income to parity with his salary. This meant he could already retire and just rely on the passive income. He is certainly less stressed about losing his job.

This is not foolproof. During crises, all UTs, property prices (can't find tenants), stock prices would be halved on top of losing their jobs. Your most reliable asset should be yourself.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

This is not foolproof. During crises, all UTs, property prices (can't find tenants), stock prices would be halved on top of losing their jobs. Your most reliable asset should be yourself.

Here, here. Let's not be too quick to thumb down suggestions and contributions from other posters. I see some gems being shared around. Put them together to develop a plan or fire wall against being unemployed.

Yes, it is important to remain employed. For almost anyone, employment income is their single most important source of income. So remaining relevant and useful to your employer is very important. One therefore needs to constantly upgrade and pick up new skills.

Having said that, one cannot avoid getting old. There is good reason why companies prefer younger employees. They are more nimble, quick to pick up new concepts, and not to mention cheaper to hire.

Health is also another factor. No one can gaurantee that they will continue to remain healthy even as they take on new skills, and remain relevant. It is obvious who a company will choose, a young, cheaper, healthy employee who can be trained, or an older, experienced but sickly person?

Having constant saving and investing the saving throughout one's career should goe hand in hand with keeping relevant in the job market. A person having established a constant stream of passive income will feel less stressed and strained at work (less insecure about being laid off) may end up being a better employee than one who is constantly worried about keeping his job.

I see positives from the contributions from the posters. Now is to put them into practise.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

This is not foolproof. During crises, all UTs, property prices (can't find tenants), stock prices would be halved on top of losing their jobs. Your most reliable asset should be yourself.

Not if you have at least $500K to tide over and buy cheap assets. That is my strategy

was jobless since oct 12... left my last job without a new offer as I cannot stand those politics le....

almost no interviews (only 2) from oct - dec...

sent more than a hundred

then suddenly got quite a few this 2 mths (7)...

finally gotten offers from 2...

phew!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

was jobless since oct 12... left my last job without a new offer as I cannot stand those politics le....

almost no interviews (only 2) from oct - dec...

sent more than a hundred

then suddenly got quite a few this 2 mths (7)...

finally gotten offers from 2...

phew!

can share what is your experience and qualification?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi bro,

Don't know who you are, but I feel for you because I went through a similar process and I want to share my true story with you, not to show off, but to let u know that things will definitely get better, so please don't give up.

In 2011, I was pretty fresh out of uni, with slightly under 1 year of experience that I had gained on a contract basis.

I left my contract role as I was offered a permanent role with a firm, Similarly, I was subject to 6 months probation and had to leave 'voluntarily' due to performing under expectations and poor fit to culture... and guess what the culture was dictated by all the 'FTs' in the company from neighbouring countries who formed cliques and ostracized me. My life in the firm was an absolute nightmare with no one willing to teach me anything properly and being left to fend for myself. I had no chance at all, even though I had worked my absolute hardest.

Leaving without a job left me jobless for 9 months in 2012, of which I can truly describe as being the worst period of my life (even worse than the hellish time in the firm). As u described, every month it was money flowing out, and no money flowing in. Networking was humiliating, where u had to admit that you were jobless to your peers, but even after embarrassment, no one could help me due to the terrible market conditions. The family and girlfriend were constantly worried and stressing and nagging at you.. on one hand I was grateful for their concern, but the other one it certainly made me feel a lot worse about myself..

As you can imagine, I was in a very poor position competing against more experienced candidates on the market, plus I had to explain why I left the previous firm without a job at every single interview. Throughout the 9 months, I constantly scoured job websites, sent countless resumes and went for numerous interviews. Disappointment after disappointment from no responses and failed interviews left me deflated, but I kept pushing on and trying. Finally, after 9 months, I was offered a contractual role in a firm, where I worked my ass off and networked within the new firm to the best of my abilities, and I managed to get converted to a permanent role with a huge payrise (>50%). I have a much better relationship with my colleagues and bosses in my current role, a lesson I learnt the hard way in my previous job.

Anyway, to answer your questions:

1. How should I/would you position yourself when people ask you why you left your previous company within 1 year?
>> Tell them you left voluntarily (fact), and a non-performance related reason why you felt your previous role was not suitable. Keep the answers on this issue in the interview honest but short, and move on to other topics as soon as you can.

2. Would saying "end of contract" or decided not to renew/extend your "contract" term to pursue other oppurtunities viable?
>>Yes, it is actually viable. Contracts not being renewed, and being jobless is actually getting more common due to the tight job market and reflects less badly on you than you'd imagine.


3. If I want to do my line of study again and start from scratch(including taking a pay cut) , what are some of the ways I can try to justify the issue of being overqualified so as better secure interviews and job oppurtunites?
>>This is something you have to decide by yourself. It is a tight job market, there are plenty of 'overqualified' people looking for roles that require less qualifications. No need to justify, just show some passion/commitment to the job you are interviewing for.

Good luck, all the best!!!!!

Thanks for the tip and sharing your story bro...I'm hitting 6 months but things are turning around for me as agencies and companies have been hitting me up so like you said nv give up.

Hopefully I'll be able to secure a position soon. But I appreciate the insight given by you from the bottom of my heart.

Hi

I thought i share my expeience here. Age 36 and male. Out of job for a whopping 18 months and today still searching for a full time job.

Graduated with an engineering degree and work in a US manufacturing plant in 2003 before economic crisis forced it to close down in 2005. Then move on to another european MNC as a trainee where i got involved in various facet of work such as HR, engineering, logistics and key account in 2007. I spent 2006 completing my masters.

Then came the call to serve in a large ministry as part of their policy team in 2009 which i thought would be relatively more stable but that was a drastic mistake. In the 2nd year of my work, I was threaten daily to terminate my contract just because some one think i was not a right fit for the job. And while foreigners protect themselves as you have seen in other pte ltd, this is one where the locals 'kill' one another. Finally after the general elections where almost all the ministries changed their minister, i was finally forced out by expiry of contract.

The irony is: With experience in local, US and european companies as well as being involved in regional work made me even more difficult to find work. Recruiters would cite my limited experience in engineering as well as HR as a stumbling block and my experiences in the civil service do not apply to pte sector.

I cannot apply to other ministries as all information are shared within the common system. How I know? cos i had a brief involvement in recruitment in the minitry. Did u know that when you apply a job in careers.gov.sg, every recruiter can see all your past applications. Is it any wonder why a stat board may suddently ask you if you are applying for any other jobs at the moment? They know.

How i survive? I rely on odd jobs to keep me alive, not forgetting some debts that had to be paid. I took up part time jobs advertised in gumtree, focus group discussions and took on as many mystery shopping assignments as i could. I even went for astrology reading such as zi wei dou shu and vedic astrology which coincientally reveals that I am at the lowest point of my life and made worse by loss of job.

If this is part of destiny i would have to accept, but it had not been easy. The wise words of dont quit without a job still hold true and I would urge everyone to follow that.

Until today, recruiters comment that my age hold a barrier as companies are not willing to consider entry position despite my experience meeting the requirements and my age is certainly not enough for the senior positions. It is real roadblock and I am really at the corss-roads of my life.

Did u consider going for contract or temp assignments?

I am surprised only odd jobs available.

How about exploring a change of industry and start from ground up?

Even a fresh grad at least 2.7k.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi

I thought i share my expeience here. Age 36 and male. Out of job for a whopping 18 months and today still searching for a full time job.

Graduated with an engineering degree and work in a US manufacturing plant in 2003 before economic crisis forced it to close down in 2005. Then move on to another european MNC as a trainee where i got involved in various facet of work such as HR, engineering, logistics and key account in 2007. I spent 2006 completing my masters.

Then came the call to serve in a large ministry as part of their policy team in 2009 which i thought would be relatively more stable but that was a drastic mistake. In the 2nd year of my work, I was threaten daily to terminate my contract just because some one think i was not a right fit for the job. And while foreigners protect themselves as you have seen in other pte ltd, this is one where the locals 'kill' one another. Finally after the general elections where almost all the ministries changed their minister, i was finally forced out by expiry of contract.

The irony is: With experience in local, US and european companies as well as being involved in regional work made me even more difficult to find work. Recruiters would cite my limited experience in engineering as well as HR as a stumbling block and my experiences in the civil service do not apply to pte sector.

I cannot apply to other ministries as all information are shared within the common system. How I know? cos i had a brief involvement in recruitment in the minitry. Did u know that when you apply a job in careers.gov.sg, every recruiter can see all your past applications. Is it any wonder why a stat board may suddently ask you if you are applying for any other jobs at the moment? They know.

How i survive? I rely on odd jobs to keep me alive, not forgetting some debts that had to be paid. I took up part time jobs advertised in gumtree, focus group discussions and took on as many mystery shopping assignments as i could. I even went for astrology reading such as zi wei dou shu and vedic astrology which coincientally reveals that I am at the lowest point of my life and made worse by loss of job.

If this is part of destiny i would have to accept, but it had not been easy. The wise words of dont quit without a job still hold true and I would urge everyone to follow that.

Until today, recruiters comment that my age hold a barrier as companies are not willing to consider entry position despite my experience meeting the requirements and my age is certainly not enough for the senior positions. It is real roadblock and I am really at the corss-roads of my life.

it takes 2 hands to clap. while i am willing, the other side is not.

companies say ppl like me when offer temp will run once got perm job

companies are also not willing to consider me as fresh grad given my age cos their managers are also my age whom they are not comfortable with.

Heard lots of "reasons"from recruitment consultants but generally the above sums it all.